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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: vault · fan · rule · chest · kid · present · sharp · bat

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. chest — of your body
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. rule — a law
  6. chest — a box
  7. kid — child
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. present — a gift
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. sharp — clever
  14. vault — a safe
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. present — there
  18. present — the time now
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. kid — to tease
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. rule — government

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com